An Oscar winner has revealed how her 11-year-old daughter pranked her with a letter demanding the return of her prestigious award.
canadian writer and director Sarah Polley picked it up Academy Award for Women Talking – with Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand – in Los Angeles last month.
But the 44-year-old said she received a letter on April Fool’s Day allegedly from the academy which described the award for best adapted screenplay as a “mistake”.
Share the letter on Twitterthe director wrote: “My 11 year old rocked for April Fools this year.”
The signed letter, purporting to be from David Rubin, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, read: “We tell you with the deepest regrets: the Oscar you received was given in error, you have to give it back.”
The letter said Polley had “one more week to enjoy it” but then had to “ship her back to LA where we’ll give her the best suited script of hers, All Quiet On The Western Front.”
He continued, “We’re sorry for your loss, but it’s only fitting that the play with the best-suited screenplay receives the Oscar.”
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The letter also said the film academy realized its mistake on the night of the ceremony but wanted to avoid another “fiasco”, referring to La La Land being named best picture winner at the 2017 ceremony instead of Moonlight.
All Quiet On The Western Front director Edward Berger played along with the prank on Twitter.
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Responding to Polley’s tweet, he wrote: “Dear Sarah, to save on postage as I live overseas, the academy has asked me to provide you with my address so you can ship the Oscar directly.
“I’ll get back to you shortly. Agree with you? It’s okay, Edward.”
Polley replied, “My kid says to tell you he’s already packed up and on his way.”
Berger added, “Thank you. Tracking number please. I would hate for it to get lost.”
All Quiet On The Western Front, a German-language film about the harsh realities of World War I, won four Oscars in March, including best international feature film, out of nine nominations.
